Contemporary Bodegones: New York

Ruiz-Healy Art is pleased to present Contemporary Bodegones, a group exhibition of works by Pedro Diego Alvarado, Yvette Mayorga, Eva Marengo Sanchez, Vick Quezada, and Chuck Ramírez, on view from May 9th to September 6th, 2024, at our New York City gallery. An opening reception will be held on May 9th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Contemporary Bodegones brings together works related to the featured artists’ individual lived histories and explores how food interlinks us with both identity and broader social issues.

Seven Days is a series of photographs that magnifies the colorful and bright remnants of different parties or meals. While the artist and the participants remain unseen, Ramirez allows the viewer to enter the space as the large-scale format provides access to every detail that makes up that specific meal, time, and place. Carmen E. Ramos, chief curatorial and conservation officer at The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., refers to Breakfast Tacos as a “contemporary still life, and a very funny one at that” as it transforms the art historical expectation of the still life into one filled with everyday consumer objects.

Ramirez’ frequent choice of a glossy white background for his objects—and his posing of those objects—is crucial. Often working with the idea of the disposable, Fouquets, Paris, a treat from a posh Parisian restaurant, seems to be on the verge of being tossed. Ramirez illustrates that pleasure, no matter how luxurious, has a cost of being consumed but not before you enjoyed it. Ramirez centers his series, Coconuts, on the slur "coconut"—brown on the outside, white on the inside. "While Coconuts references Chicano cultures, history, and identity, the series also reveals larger social problems by evoking personal and conceptual poetics. 

“Pink is a weapon of mass destruction; I live by those words.” 

-Yvette Mayorga

Pinknologic Anxiety (After Francois Boucher, Madame de Pompadour, c. 1755)  draws inspiration from both the past and present. The work reflects on French high society and the intricate Rococo style, alongside the icing influenced by the artist's intimate connection with her mother as a baker in 1970s America after immigrating from Latin America. Infusing contemporary elements like Crocs, cellphones, gold jewelry, acrylic nails, and Polly Pocket play sets, the artist melds historical elegance with modern symbolism. Through this fusion, the artist reimagines the essence of Madame de Pompadour for the 21st century, and introduces her to new beauty standards.

Topped with pink piped acrylic paint ribbons, Tweety Hot Lovers (After Century Vase c. 1876) references and reimagines the emblematic American Century Vase. Mayorga replaces the bison-headed handles and the profile of George Washington with plated cell phones and innocent scrawlings of tic-tac-toe over daydreamed clouds. By including charms, gold chains, bows, and the unmistakable visage of Tweety Bird, Mayorga is not only able to express her girlhood and upbringing as a Mexican American in the 90s but also comments on the role of overconsumption in the United States and how it has been embedded into the social conventions of gender expression.

 

“I think that everybody’s expression and cultural representation is all net positive. If we can be more aware of each other and what is important to each other, that makes the world a better place. And if that’s more pop-y, like ‘taco culture,’ that’s ultimately a positive thing.”

- Eva Marengo Sanchez

Marengo Sanchez sees her work as a way to honor her hometown, San Antonio, Texas. By cherishing the local cuisine of tacos, conchas, and fruit cups, the artist can create a common language with Texans and her viewers worldwide: "Food experiences are attached to people. By highlighting just the food, it creates icons, but ultimately, it reminds you of the people you’ve experienced or where you come from.”

The works of Vick Quezada are often interdisciplinary in subject and material and are composed of manufactured and natural elements that honor indigenous Mesoamerican arts and religion. Quezada examines the social and cultural impact of capitalism and Western structures, specifically institutions such as prisons and military bases that strip identity away from individuals. Representing marginalized communities who battle against contemporary ethnocide, the artist reminds the audience that each person has unique experiences and heritage despite external appearances.

"In Mexico we have this special light, It's very important, the light I feel and see when paint. That's what makes my painting Mexican." 

- Pedro Diego Alvarado-Rivera

Pedro Diego Alvarado draws a compelling parallel between the historical context of the Dutch Golden Age and contemporary points at issue. Alvarado’s work highlights a deep engagement with themes like urbanization, globalization, and international trade, echoing the social and economic factors that originally fueled the popularity of still-life genres in the Northern and Spanish Netherlands, with a growing emphasis on domesticity and personal possessions. The inclusion of fruits such as pomegranates, zapote, and naranjas Chinas in Alvarado’s paintings serves multiple symbolic purposes, reflecting the influence of global trade on local traditions. To him, the wide array of tropical fruits, their cultivation, and their presence in everyday life “are a part of what it is to be Mexican.”